Hundreds of volunteers have worked since Wednesday morning to pack 500,000 meals for Africa.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Shifts of hundreds of volunteers are taking turns packing meals for Burundi, Africa today in the second day of the Stop Hunger Now campaign at Canterbury United Methodist Church in Mountain Brook.

On Wednesday, volunteers packed 215,000 meals by 7 p.m. to ship to Zambia, Africa. A group of area college students then stepped in and began working on the next shipment Wednesday night, getting the total of meals prepared up to 269,137 by 9 p.m. By this afternoon, the total hit 318,000.

"We have to hit 500,000 by 7 p.m. tonight," said Rachel Estes, director of outreach at Canterbury United Methodist Church.

St. Stephen's Episcopal, St. Luke’s Episcopal, Brookwood Baptist and Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church are co-sponsoring the effort. But the volunteers have come from all over.

"We're excited that we've had Catholics and Presbyterians come by to help; we've had volunteers from the Exceptional Foundation; Liberty Park Middle School sent 153 eighth-graders; Cherokee Bend Elementary School sent 60 sixth graders," Estes said. Eight players from the Birmingham Barons baseball team dropped by to help also.

Each meal has rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and a packet of vitamins, Estes said.

"A school will feed children for four to five months so they get the consistent nutrition they need," she said.

"People are more likely to send their children to school if they know they are going to get fed."

The 500,000 meals cost about 25 cents each, meaning the churches had to raise about $125,000.